County Courthouse

In 1974 nine square miles of Washington County were annexed to the City of Bristol, which is an independent city with its own clerks office and records. Circuit ClerkCourt has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land recordsfrom 1777[1]

History

President George Washington (1732-1799)

The county was named after George Washington (1732-1799), who later became President.

Parent County

1776--Washington County was created 7 October 1776 from Fincastle County. Fincastle County was formed from Botetourt County in 1772, and was abolished in 1777. See Montgomery County.County seat: Abingdon [2]

Land

Local Histories

Creigh, Alfred. History of Washington County from Its First Settlement to the Present Time: First Under Virginia as Yohogania, Ohio, or Augusta County Until 1781, and Subsequently Under Pennsylvania: With Sketches of All the Townships, Boroughs, and Villages, Etc.: And to Which is Added a Full Account of the Celebrated Mason and Dixon's Line, the Whiskey Insurrection, Indian Warfare, Traditional and Local Historical Events. Harrisburg, Pa.: B. Singerly, printer, 1871, c1870. Available at FHL; digital version at Ancestry ($).

Summers, Lewis Preston. History of Southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870. J.L.Hill Print Co., 1903. Available at FHL; digital versions at Ancestry ($) and Google Books. Following the 1966 reprint, this book was reviewed in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1967):84. Review available at American Ancestors ($).

Revolutionary War

A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census]. 1841. Digital versions at U.S. Census Bureau and Google Books. 1967 reprint: FHL Book 973 X2pc 1840. [See Virginia, Western District, Wythe County on page 136.]

War of 1812

List of Pensioners on the Roll, January 1, 1883; Giving the Name of Each Pensioner, the Cause for Why Pensioned, the Post-Office Address, the Rate of Pension Per Month, and the Date of Original Allowance... Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. FHL Book 973 M2Lp v. 5; digital versions at Google Books and Internet Archive. [See Vol. 5, Virginia, Washington County, p. 106-107. Identifies War of 1812 veterans living in this county in 1883.]

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Washington County, Virginia Genealogy served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Washington County, Virginia Genealogy:

Naturalization

Newspapers

Indexed images of the Virginia Gazette (1736-1780) are available online through the Colonial Williamsburg website. In addition, Professor Tom Costa and The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia have created a database of all runaway advertisements for slaves, indentured servants, transported convicts, and ship deserters listed in this source and other Virginia newspapers (1736-1803), see: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia. These newspapers are valuable resources for all regions of Virginia.

Periodicals

Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin

Genealogical articles with abstracts of Washington County, Virginia records have been published in the Watauga Association of Genealogists Bulletin (39+ vols., 1972-present), the journal of the Watauga Association of Genealogists. The organization has posted tables of contents for most volumes on their website. Back issues are available for purchase. The Family History Library has a complete collection FHL US/CAN Books 976.897 B2w, including Margaret W. Hougland and Betty Jane Hylton's Bulletin Subject Index: The First Thirty Years, 1972-2001 (Johnson City, Tenn.: Watauga Association of Genealogists, 2002) FHL US/CAN Book 976.897 B2w index 1972-2001.

[1787] Schreiner-Yantis, Netti and Florene Speakman Love. The 1787 Census of Virginia: An Accounting of the Name of Every White Male Tithable Over 21 Years, the Number of White Males Between 16 & 21 Years, the Number of Slaves over 16 & Those Under 16 Years, Together with a Listing of Their Horses, Cattle & Carriages, and Also the Names of All Persons to Whom Ordinary Licenses and Physician's Licenses Were Issued. 3 vols. Springfield, Va.: Genealogical Books in Print, 1987. Available at FHL. [The source of this publication is the 1787 personal property tax list. Washington County is included in Vol. 2.]

[1815] Ward, Roger D. 1815 Directory of Virginia Landowners (and Gazetteer). 6 vols. Athens, Georgia: Iberian Pub. Co., 1997-2000. Available at FHL. [The source for this publication is the 1815 land tax. Washington County is included in Vol. 5.]

[1815] Kegley, Mary B. Southwest Virginia Tax Assessments, 1815: Grayson, Lee, Scott, Russell, Washington, and Wythe Counties. Wytheville, Va.: Kegley Books, 1991. Original edition and 1992 supplement available at FHL. [The source for this publication is a private collection of 1815 tax assessment tickets for the First District of Virginia. The tickets includes landowners' names, number of acres or lots, number of buildings along with descriptions, and number of slaves. N.B. These are not the 1815 land tax books.]

Vital Record Substitutes

The Virginia Historical Society's Marriage and Obituary Index, 1736-1820 (newspaper abstracts) is available for free online. Images of the original index cards are browseable, arranged alphabetically by surname.

↑Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), 847-61. (FHL Book 973 D27e 2002) WorldCat entry., and William E. Myer, Indian Trails of the Southeast (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 12-14, and the book's pocket map "The Trail System of the Southeastern United States in the early Colonial Period" (1923). (FHL Book 970.1 M992i) WorldCat entry.